After reading Bryan Peterson's Understanding Close-Up Photography I found this book at my local bookstore. Thumbing through it I saw that there were macro techniques explained for Photoshop and quickly decided to purchase the book. Well, there are two techniques that are quite well explained, but other than that I can honestly say that I found nothing else useful through the whole thing. Most of the book seems to be the author telling you what he likes to shoot (flowers on black background, flowers on white background, still life, etc.) in a short paragraph, then a few example shots with a brief synopsis of what you're looking at and what the author "feels" about the shot. He mentions a handful of items that are useful for shooting close-ups or macros, but never goes into any detail about their application. Much more disappointing than that, everything that he describes that would be new and exciting (i.e. digital painting) is left completely unexplained and the reader is given a reference to another book, of course written by this same author. I strongly recommend that you purchase Peterson's book and leave this one on the shelf. The only reason I'm giving it two stars is because I did learn a new technique in Photoshop (focus-stacking). Now, I think I'll find someone or somewhere to donate this book.
Author(s): Harold Davis
Publisher: Wiley
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 243
Creative Close-Ups: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques......Page 5
Contents......Page 9
Introduction......Page 10
Worlds of wonder......Page 13
Close and Closer......Page 14
Worlds of Close-Up Photography......Page 16
Photographing Artifacts......Page 22
Finding Macro Subjects......Page 32
Macros and the Digital Darkroom......Page 36
Creating Close-Up Abstractions......Page 40
Getting close......Page 47
Seeing Up Close and Personal......Page 48
Macro Lenses......Page 50
Extension Tubes and Close-Up Filters......Page 54
More Close-Up Gear......Page 56
Lensbaby Close-Ups......Page 62
Using a Tripod......Page 66
Focusing......Page 70
Exposing Close-Ups......Page 74
Aperture and Depth-of-Field......Page 78
Lighting Close-Up Photos......Page 82
Using Macro Flash......Page 86
Photographing flowers......Page 91
Botany of Desire......Page 92
Flowers and Light......Page 100
Transparency in the Garden......Page 106
Transparency in the Studio......Page 108
Flowers on White......Page 114
Flowers on Black......Page 116
HDR Flower Photography......Page 120
Focus Stacking......Page 126
Selective Focus......Page 134
Motion......Page 136
Impressionism......Page 138
Colors and Abstraction......Page 142
Flowers and Digital Painting......Page 146
Universe in a grain of sand......Page 151
Water Drops on Parade......Page 152
Drops, Drops, Drops......Page 157
Locking Up Your Mirror......Page 158
Natural Jewelry......Page 162
Reflections and Refractions......Page 170
The Solo Drop......Page 182
Close-ups in the studio......Page 191
Still Life Photography......Page 192
Setting the Stage......Page 198
Backgrounds......Page 202
Lighting Still Life Compositions......Page 208
Shadows......Page 214
Staging the Set......Page 218
Finding Subjects......Page 224
Photographing Jewelry......Page 228
Photographing Glass......Page 230
Resources and Further Reading......Page 236
Glossary......Page 238
Index......Page 240
